Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male and a female veiled living in two separate enclosures (they cant see eachother). I have had them for about a year and they seem healthy, but since these are my first lizards I'm certainly no expert. A few things that I'm wondering though:

Light: I have bought ZooMed UVA/B lights for each lizard. I have them hanging about two feet from there the lizards usually are. Is this too far for the UV light to penetrate? There is not glass or anything between the lights and the lizards.

Water: I have assembles a drip system using IV drippers. Thing is, they rarely drink. I have set it up all different ways so that the water hits the leaves of plants, runs down a wall, falls into a bowl and they still dont drink much. Even if i havent watered them for a few days they arent going after it.

Color: My female gets very dark now and then. She goes from a light green to an almost purple/black with green spots and sometime stays that way for hours. I guessed that she was seeing her shadow on a wall and have since re-angled the light. She seems to turn dark less but still does now and then.

This board has supplied me with some great info and I want to thank all the contributors. Thanks!

Your lights are borderline too far away. Supposedly the maximum distance the UV can penetrate at an effective level is 18". As for drinking, they can be sneaky. Depending on how much foliage is in their cages that they can climb through and lick, you may not be seeing them drink. Do you spray the foliage in addition to the drippers? They may actually be drinking more from spray droplets. What is your cage humidity? If it is over 70% they may not need as much direct drinking water. I'd suggest measuring the humidity so you really know, spraying regularly (often they aren't stimulated to drink until the spray has been running for a few minutes so longer lower intensity sessions are better than intense short blasts), and keeping their cages full of foliage. Your female's coloration sounds like she's trying to bluff something. Can she see any reflections of herself anywhere?

I live in the tropics so its always over 70% humidity and often much higher.

I will adjust the lights.

The female can see her shadow but thats it. The male can similarly see its shadow but seems to have no problem with it.

Thanks.

the lights need to be replaced about every 6 months inorder to keep producing enough UVB. There is anecdotal evidence that the ZooMed Reptisun last much longer, but always good to be on the safe side.

they usually will not drink from a bowl. Are they eating and look OK otherwise? As Carlton said you may not actually see them drink. It seems that each cham has their drinking preference. Luna would ONLY drink from her dripper (sitting right under it) and I never once saw her lick a leaf. You could always give them an ocassional shower, or even better, since you are in the tropics, do you have outdoor cages? You can set them up outdoors to get "real" UVB from the sun and also during a warm rain (with plenty of foliage so they can get out of it if they want).

Here's Luna (gravid) in her shower

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Her pics are always enjoyed
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

thanks. I have so many pics of her and they all make me smile. I am glad she was with me for the 2 years I had her.

"Now where is that mist I like so much...?"

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

I agree with the last comments. The lights should be closer, maybe 7 " to 12 " (max) away from where the chameleon normally is. I see some of my Chameleons drink, but most of them are sneaky about it. Lots of their moisture can come from their food as well, so if you feed her moist food, she may not need to drink as much. You may not even see them drink at all, some prefering privacy. There are so many reasons why a female may chnage colours. It reflects their mood, stress levels, temperature and defensive tactics. I would definatly check for a reflection being seen. Other than that, try to offer her more foliage for hiding, and check temperature and humidity levels.

The Lizard Lounge
Lizard Care

Since others have answered your questions about drinking and lighting, I'll skip them.

Concerning Color: It might be that she is seeing her reflection somewhere, but the coloration you are describing is representative of being gravid/non-recptive. How close is the male's cage to her cage?

It might be possible that she is aware of the male being nearby even if she can't see him...if the distance isn't too great.

There is just a thin, solid barrier between the cages. She certainly cant see him but i dont know about a chams smelling ability or whatever.

Here's an article that you might be interested in reading...
http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/may2003/infrasound/infrasound.html

If you scan down, you will find a comment made concerning the reaction of chameleons to a person entering a facility where veileds were kept.

IMHO its possible that these chameleons communicate in ways in addition to sight...maybe by infrasounds...maybe by pheramones....although I can't cite any proof of it.

At any rate, I've never seen any problems result from the female changing her colors like this as long as she is not in visual contact with a male. Mine do it frequently. Just my own opinion.

You might like to see/hear this site too...
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/5014/hoot.html